School closures and the coronavirus outbreak in the United States have brought to light several educational disparities, including limited access to technology, communication problems, and a shortage of resources for kids with disabilities. According to Zaretta Hammond, author of “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain,” there are still chances to offer children tools to help them be autonomous learners despite the crises.
A lot of attention has been paid to the classroom, but there are ways to cultivate learning habits at home. This does not mean that students will receive the same materials at home as they would in class, but rather that educators should consider what a student needs to be in control of their education.
In her webinar, “Moving Beyond the Packet: Creating More Culturally Responsive Distance Learning Experiences,” Hammond discussed three design concepts of culturally responsive training that may be applied to promote students’ cognitive growth from afar. According to this expert, students’ development and intellectual capacity can be enhanced by providing tiny but high-leverage routines. She claims that these strategies and activities can be used by children who do not have access to a computer or the internet.
To begin, what exactly do we mean by culturally responsive education?
There is a lot of misunderstanding about culturally responsive education and the importance of using a common language. Helping kids develop the ability to learn independently is at the heart of culturally relevant instruction, and culturally sensitive teaching should:
- Aim to raise academic achievement among kids who have been historically underrepresented in our education system.
- Think about teaching and learning from both an emotional and a logical point of view.
- Push back on prevalent myths about people of color to develop cognitive capacity and a mindset for academics and the academy.
Race and implicit prejudice are just two examples of culturally responsive teaching, but they aren’t the only examples.” “she remarked on the subject. “It indicates that you’re also focused on increasing brainpower by helping students use and grow their existing reservoirs of knowledge,” he writes.
Hammond distinguishes between education that is culturally responsive, education that is multicultural, and education that is socially just. The importance of each cannot be overstated, yet without focusing on enhancing pupils’ cognitive abilities, they will suffer from a lack of learning.
For distant learning, culturally responsive teaching entails “remixing” education by borrowing from the finest practices in how kids learn (Montessori, project-based learning, etc.) in a way that places the student in charge of their education. When students have more control over their knowledge, they are less reliant on their teachers for information.
While it may be uncomfortable at first, Hammond believes it will be worth it in the long run if it encourages pupils to continue thinking critically.
